handspike

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a stout bar used as a lever, especially by sailors to turn a capstan or windlass

   The sailors fitted a handspike into the capstan and heaved together.

A compound of hand + spike, named for a bar gripped and worked by hand. Historically it was commonly a wooden lever inserted into a ship's capstan or windlass; broader uses include any stout bar for prying.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
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